ean Little’s most recent book, The Sweetest one of all, is a picture book for very young children and their parents. In it, barnyard animal babies ask their mothers who they are and each of them is told that he or she is the sweetest one of all. The book ends with a human mother telling her little one the same thing. And getting a loving hug in response. The playful text should continue to delight both children and adults even after many readings.

The colourful illustrations by Marisol Sarrazin are endearing and filled with lively detail. Each will hold small readers spellbound.

Jean Little

J

ean Little is recognized throughout Canada and the United States for her candid and unsentimental portrayals of adolescent life. Once a teacher of handicapped children, Little herself is only partially sighted, and she uses much of her real-life experience as the basis for her books.

This sequel to Mine for Keeps focuses on Meg, the youngest child in the Copeland family. When the novel opens, Meg has been told that she'll have her own room beginning on her birthday, in part because she is struggling in school and her parents think it might help to have her own desk. This plan falls apart when the marriage of Meg's aunt leads to Grandma coming to live with the Copeland family. Meg wrestles with her disappointment and her hostility to her grandmother, along with her problems at school, where she has enough trouble concentrating that her teacher warns that she may not be promoted. But Grandma turns out to be more complicated than Meg realizes, and with help from Sal and Elsje, Meg makes some progress at school.